EAST ST. LOUIS - A class action lawsuit filed in Southern Illinois district court alleges the security system used by Walmart, Inc. violates customers' privacy under state law.
Plaintiff James Luthe filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Walmart, Inc., citing negligence and carelessness in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The suit was filed through attorneys Gary M. Klinger and Blake Hunter Yagman of Milberg, Coleman, Bryson, Phillips, Grossman, PLLC in Chicago and Joseph P. Guglielmo of Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law, LLP in New York City.
According to the lawsuit, Luthe has patronized numerous Walmart stores several times during the past three years. The lawsuit assumes that each Walmart store is equipped with a facial recognition-enabled video surveillance system and recorded the plaintiff each time he visited a Walmart store.
The lawsuit states that BIPA laws require that prior to collecting biometric data, companies must inform visitors in writing that biometric data will be collected and stored. It also states that visitors must be informed in writing of the specific purpose of why the biometric data is being collected, how long it will be stored, and companies must receive a written release from visitors for the collection of biometric data.
Luthe alleges Walmart invades the privacy of its customers by collecting and storing their biometric data without informed consent. According to Luthe, Walmart never received a release from him allowing them to collect his biometric data, and he never authorized Walmart to collect his biometric data for this use. He adds that Walmart does not have written, publicly available policies identifying how long it will store biometric data or information for permanently destroying customers' biometric data.
Luthe is demanding a jury trial to seek damages for himself and everyone in the class action lawsuit, plus court costs, attorney fees and any other relief the court deems proper. He is also requesting the court to issue an order requiring the defendant to comply with BIPA and cease the collection of biometric data without informed written consent.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:22-CV-02104-NJR